Spectre: Spin Offs
by De4thstopper
Summary: Spectre has some pretty weird visions... He simply cannot understand why he has them, or why they are significant at all. Take a venture with Spectre like you've never seen him before! (Hey guys! I guess this is pretty self explanatory; nevertheless, there are more details in the intro chapter. Bare in mind that this isn't a main Spectre story, just a little side thing.)
1. A Brief Introduction

Spectre: Spin offs Intro

'_Because why not…?'_

Greetings to all! So, I'll bet you're thinking: "OMG, De4thstopper y u no tell me bout dis bro?" or "_What is Spectre: Spin offs?"_ Allow me to shed some light on the matter. Firstly, SURPRISE! I don't know about you guys, but I do love a good surprise now and then. Secondly: 'Spectre SO' is exactly what it sounds like, a collection of one shots based around the Spectre Chronicles (for those of you who haven't, feel free to check out my other Spectre fics, you might like them!).

There are a few more important points that you might want to know about before reading this fic. They are as follows:

These one shots are set away from the main universe that the other Spectre stories are in. Put simply, these one shots have nothing to do with the main plot, and don't actually happen.

I am doing this purely for my own entertainment (and hopefully that of other too). I still intend to keep the main series as serious as it is now.

The chapters in this story can be released for a specific event or to say a point. I will state this at the start of each chapter.

I won't release any chapters for this at regular intervals unlike the current Spectre stories. They will come whenever I feel like it basically.

I will also state the point at which each chapter starts with respect to the main Spectre stories, so you shouldn't get too confused about which characters are where.

Right, that's about it. Hope you enjoy and thank you for your time!

De4thstopper

P.S: Eucalyptus


	2. Spectre Saves Christmas (Part 1)

Author's Note: Hohoho! Merry Christmas everyone! That's right, I had the audacity to make a Spectre Christmas Special! I'll be honest, this is either the greatest or worst idea of my life, so if it doesn't work I'd like to quit while I'm ahead; if you guys like this idea of random specials that have nothing to do with the story, please let me know. The same goes for if you hate them and feel that they are blasphemy or something. On that note, I will probably release the next part depending on the amount of attention I get from this one. So yeah, something I forgot to mention in the intro is that I will write these spin offs in the third person instead of using Spectre's first person as per usual. It's just for practice incase I decide to switch it up for other stuff that I might write. As for when I release the next Spectre story, it'll probably be late January at the earliest, just because of mock exams as soon as I get back to college etc. Don't worry though, it's coming! Now finally to the story!

* * *

Xmas Special: Spectre saves Christmas!

(Runs from Spectre B2F Chapter X)

'_But what if Spectre saved Christmas?'_

Twas the night before Christmas at Beacon Academy. The grounds were white with snow, and the dazzling lights glimmered through the night. These were merry times indeed, and the Christmas spirit was clearly alive among the students; some chose to party the night away, others prefer the quieter social gatherings with friends and family.

For Spectre however, he would be alone. With no teammates, and his friends taking part in other events, he would celebrate the holiday with a juice carton, sat on his bed, enjoying the quiet time to think and reflect on the past, present and future. He never was the greatest believer in Christmas; he did celebrate it, but he never put on a party or fought for the best Christmas lights etcetera etcetera. This year, he settled for a small (BT) fibre optic Christmas tree sat peacefully on a shelf in his dorm. He contemplated about getting a snowman to go with it, but decided it was a little too much.

The dorm itself was still a tip, a tip that had become surprisingly homely to Spectre. After taking an earful from Yang and Weiss however, they convinced him to request that the room be sorted out back to its original state. He didn't mind that too much though. It was what needed to happen. Even Spectre, as stubborn as he could be…

*KNOCK KNOCK*

_GOD DAMMIT! Can't I just narrate a story without being interrupted? Nobody's supposed to even knock at the door yet! I was supposed to talk about a load of boring stuff that wouldn't advance the plot in any way! *sigh*. Fine. Here's your sodding plot progression…_

Spectre pulled the straw from his mouth and moved to the door. He opened it casually, and found Yang leaning against the doorframe with a Santa hat on.

"Hey gorgeous," she said seductively.

"Evening beautiful," he replied, leaning against the other side of the frame, "I thought you were going to a party."

"We were, but we missed you, so we came back."

"Really? You all came back for me?"

"Yeah…" she said stepping in closer, "We were hoping to celebrate with you."

He smiled at that. It was nice to know that he was loved, so to speak. "Thanks Yang," he said offering her a hug.

Before he got too close, she placed an outstretched finger on his chest, making him freeze on the spot. She then held her other hand above him, revealing the mistletoe in her hands. When he realised what was happening, he asked:

"Where did you get that?"

"Places," she said playfully, "I guess that you know what this means…"

He knew what it meant alright, but he was hesitant. "Does she expect me to take my helmet off?" he questioned mentally, not entirely comfortable with the idea.

Yang stopped him though. "Don't worry Spectre." She leaned forward and softly kissed him on the side of his helmet, where his cheek would be. "There. All done."

He flushed behind his visor, wild thoughts swarming around in his head.

"Spectre?" she asked, her tone suddenly changing.

"Well that's… new."

"You okay?"

"She didn't even touch my skin and yet…"

"Uh…"

"I feel so – alive…"

She grabbed his arm and started to gently guide him down the corridor. "C'mon honey, let's sit you down."

Then he turned to her, as if in a trance. "Yang?"

"Yes dear?"

"Why am I seeing Nevermores fly around my head?"

She replied with a look of puzzlement. "But there aren't any…"

She stopped trying to convince him otherwise when he started mumbling Christmas songs illiterately. Sighing, she opened the door to her dorm and hauled him inside.

* * *

"What did you do to him?" Blake asked in a confused tone.

"I dunno," Yang answered while asking herself the same thing, "I just did the mistletoe thing and he ended up like this…"

Spectre was sat on Weiss' bed hugging Ruby's bear cushion, completely oblivious to the conversation taking place in front of him. He was still singing Christmas carols to himself and swaying in time with them too.

Weiss was sat next to him, starting to become slightly disturbed by his actions. "What has he been drinking?" she asked.

"I don't think he was, like, drowning his sorrows drinking," Yang replied, "That would be really unlike him… Plus he was fine when he answered the door…"

"Maybe he's just in shock or something," Ruby put in from atop her bunk, "I mean, we all know how Spectre is, maybe it was his first kiss, and he's taking it pretty hard."

They all stared at him for a few seconds in discomfort. Seeing such a _generally _mature and strong willed friend like this was a bit of a shock to them.

"I don't think that taking it 'hard' is the right word Ruby…" Blake said flatly.

"Yeah," Weiss replied shifting in her seat with discomfort, "He seems very mellow – scarily mellow…"

Yang sighed irritably and signalled for Weiss to move. Once she did, she slipped into her spot and shuffled over to Spectre.

"What are you doing?" Weiss asked.

"I'm worried for him," Yang said whilst wrapping her arms around his waist, "I've never seen him like this before; I might have done something really bad…"

"Don't worry sis," Ruby said reassuringly, "This is Spectre we're talking about here. He'll be fine, right guys?"

The two shade girls glanced at each other awkwardly and didn't respond.

"Oh c'mon guys!" Ruby started.

Yang stopped her though. "It's okay Ruby, you're right. He'll be fine. I'll just stay with him." As she said that, she removed her hat and placed it on Spectre's head, then rested hers on his shoulder, hopeful that she was right.

Spectre had stopped swaying now, but he still hummed 'Silent Night' quietly to himself. It made Yang smile a little at how sweet it was. "C'mon guys," she said softly, "It's late now; we should get some sleep."

"Yup. Santa won't be happy if we're awake when he comes!" Ruby squealed, excited at hearing the name.

Weiss looked disapprovingly at her. "Ruby, you do know that…"

But she was already snoring away, clearly much more tired that she let on. It wasn't long before that others followed suit; Spectre had even stopped humming too. For a short time, all was quiet and tranquil in the world. But only for a short time…

* * *

Spectre woke to a dark room and the closing of a door. It was still night time and everyone else was sleeping soundly, even the attractive blonde who had bound herself to him. It was very stuffy in there, and Spectre wondered as to how he managed to sleep at all. That's when he realised.

"Have I just been sleeping?" he thought to himself. It had been so long since he had exchanged sleep for meditation that the idea was near alien to him by now. Speaking of sleep, he noticed that he was on Weiss' bed.

"Where is she sleeping then?" he asked himself again. Looking around, the ice queen was nowhere to be seen. "Maybe she left the room? But if so, why?"

With that thought in mind, his curiosity had gotten the better of him as he gradually began to slither his way out of Yang's hug. It was no easy effort, but he managed it, using the bear cushion on his lap as a placebo for his presence. After that, he gently lowered her sleepy head onto the pillow at the head of the bed.

He then stroked her head gently and said: "Stay here."

After stepping back and scanning the room, he noticed that Blake was still asleep – but Ruby wasn't there either. Suddenly, a noise that sounded like a firework going off came from the roof. The explosion that followed suggested that something was amiss though. He paced to the door.

"What's going on?"

Spectre turned to find that the sound had alerted Blake's acute cat ears. Yang was still asleep though, thankfully.

She started to get out of her bed and join him at the door, but Spectre told her otherwise. "No, stay with Yang. I've got this one."

"But…"

"Blake, please," he pleaded, "Promise me you'll stay with her."

After a moment's hesitation, she nodded in understanding. "Okay."

"Thank you," he said as he opened the door and started sprinting down the corridor.

* * *

By the time he reached the roof there were a series of small fires, creating tall smoke columns into the night sky. Ruby was on her knees, cradling Weiss' unconscious body with the utmost concern. Quickly scanning the rest of the roof for threats, Spectre saw a red sleigh with a large man, also in red, stooped over the side. He was unmoving, just like Weiss, but something told him that he wasn't dead.

Satisfied, he hastily made his way to the girls. "You guys okay?"

"Spectre!" Ruby said in surprise, "I thought you were…"

"I was what?" he asked showing puzzlement.

"Uh… never mind."

"Ruby, what's going on?"

"Roman Torchwick's going to kill _Santa!_"

"Okay that doesn't seem so… Wait_ what?_"

"That's right Spectre-san." The pair turned and saw Roman Torchwick emerge from behind the sleigh, his cane at hand and a large red sack over his shoulder. "But I'm not going to _kill _Santa, just lock him up for a long, long time."

Spectre rose slowly and glanced quickly to study the man in red. The beard, the hat, everything. He never thought he'd see the day, but Santa was actually real…

"Why do you want to lock up poor ol' Santa Claus?" Spectre asked, not quite sure whether to take the event seriously or not.

"That my friend, is a very good question. Well you see, Christmas has always been my favourite holiday. Not a year has passed where I would be jumping up and down in anticipation…"

"Sorry, is there a point to all of this?" Spectre interrupted.

Torchwick glared back at him. "That's very rude. Didn't your mother teach you any manners?"

He didn't answer.

"Oh dear," Torchwick mocked, rubbing salt in the wound, "Did I touch you in a soft spot?"

There was a moment of awkward silence; Santa's waking groans and the gentle breeze were all that could be heard.

"Um," Ruby said, "That sounded _pretty _weird Torchwick…"

"What do you mean?"

"Paedophile," Spectre coughed, making Ruby snuffle a little bit.

Torchwick face-palmed at his error. "Can I _please _just tell you the story?" When nobody replied, he continued. "Good. Now, ever since I started in the crime business, I had never gotten any presents for Christmas, only a lump of coal every year for my outstanding efforts. That got me really upset; like I would cry myself to sleep the night afterwards…" He paused for a moment to wipe a tear from his eye before it smudged his make-up. "I've spent the last few years planning for this moment, and now I'm going to let the whole world feel my pain!"

Spectre hesitated. "Are you fucking serious?"

"Of course I'm serious."

"You just woke me up, endangered my girlfriend, shot at my friends… All for this?"

"Well, yes actually. Is that a problem for you? You didn't _have to _wake up you know…"

"Curse my sense of duty…" Spectre sighed. "Well, you've pissed me off now. Your loss." He Void-Jumped into punching range and slugged him one straight to the gabber. Torchwick reeled back then retaliated by swinging the sack around. It slammed into Spectre, sending him sprawling across the roof, landing hard on his back.

"Spectre!" Ruby called.

He was fine though and quickly stood to one knee. "What in oblivion is in that sack?"

Torchwick released an evil laugh before he replied. "Word around the street is that within Santa's sack lies every weapon in existence. For example…" He reached inside of the bag and to Spectre's surprise, he pulled out _Grimm's Doom. _

"HA! The look on your face! Wait, I can't actually see your face but… Shut up, you know what I mean!" He aimed the gun-sword at his opponent, but before he knew what happened, the gem in it's pommel began to glow and it flew into Spectre's outstretched hand.

"Nice one, Torch-dick," Spectre mocked.

He looked like he was going to have a temper tantrum. "Damn it! Okay, if you counter this, I'm _really _not going to like you!" He reached into the sack once more and pulled out a strange spherical device. He rotated the top and bottom hemispheres of the orb and a circle of faint blue light appeared around the group. "See you later, Speckles. Red. Ice Queen."

Before anyone could react, a white flash spread from the orb and to the edges of the circle. And then they were gone.

* * *

It was cold. Spectre didn't like the cold. He was in a cave; ice had coated the walls, reflecting the light from the outside all the way through. Save for the frost on its surface, the ice was almost like freezing mirrors that you wouldn't dare to touch. The ground wasn't much better either, so it was a shock to Spectre when he awoke.

He sprang to his feet, vigorously rubbing the back of his frigid legs. Realising that it didn't help in the slightest, he stopped to take in his surroundings.

"Where the hell am I?" he thought, "What was that orb thing all about?"

Suddenly a small amount of powdered snow fell past his visor. He looked up at its origin and saw a winding uphill path along the cavern walls, leading up to the surface. Making his way up this slippery incline was Roman Torchwick. He was grunting at the effort of pushing Santa's sleigh through the cave, which he was doing very well in all fairness. He kicked another shower of powder snow off the edge, falling straight into Spectre's face.

"Oi!" Spectre shouted back at him.

Torchwick glanced over the edge of the path and his jaw dropped in shock, his cigar dropping down to the floor below. "You shouldn't be awake yet..."

"Yeah? Well here I am, you…" The cigar hit Spectre's helmet and bounced down to the floor. He sighed. "While we're at it, would you like to throw anything _else_ at my head?"

Torchwick responded by aiming his cane at him and firing. Spectre dodged by diving to one side, landing flat on his face on the freezing floor. He collided with something, and noticed that it was _Grimm's Doom,_ stabbed deep into the floor in front of him. He got to his feet and yanked _Doom _free, then returned fire at Torchwick. The firefight lasted for ten seconds before Spectre decided to assault his opponent up close. He Jumped not two metres away from him, but slipped on the ice when he landed, sending him sliding on his back all the way back down to where he came.

When he hit the bottom of the cave, his head collided with someone's shins.

Ruby yawned and rubbed her eyes. "Spectre?" she asked drowsily, "What's going on?"

Upon looking up once more, and hearing the sound of Torchwick's laughter, Spectre realised that once that cane fired, it would be over for both of them. In an instant, he grasped Ruby's ankle and Jumped randomly, leaving the explosive dust round behind them.

* * *

"Ow…" Spectre said after Ruby landed on top of him.

"Oh… sorry Spectre…" she replied, getting up clumsily. Spectre wasn't far behind her, shooting to his feet before the cold set in.

"C'mon Rubes, we need to get out of here…" he said to her, but stopped when he heard her hit the floor. For a moment he was worried, but then he realised that she was only asleep.

He rolled his eyes behind his visor and knelt down to her. "Ruby…"

She groaned and muttered her dreams aloud: "It's so nice and snowy outside…"

"Ruby."

"Yes Santa… I have been a good girl this year…"

"Ruby!"

"AHHHH!" she cried as she woke, "Spectre! Don't ever do that again!"

"It's not my fault that you can sleep anywhere," he shrugged, "You could have got hypothermia."

"But it was such a nice dream…" she whined childishly as she sat up, "Santa came down the chimney and gave me lots and lots of presents…"

"And he's not going to do that if we don't save him, now is he?"

"Wait, Santa's been kidnapped? By who?"

Spectre blinked. "Roman Torchwick, _remember_?"

"_What?!_"

"That's right, it's up to us now."

She sped to her feet. "Justice will be swift! Justice will be painful!"

"Excellent," Spectre said as he rose to a stand, "Now let's save Christmas!"

Ruby air punched with a battle cry. "Go team Spect-by! Or team Ru-tre. Or…"

While Ruby was contemplating ship names, Spectre noticed that something else was amiss. He rushed forward suddenly and clasped his hand around her mouth.

"Mmm! mmm hmmm mh!" she protested.

Spectre placed a finger over where his mouth would be and suggested for her to listen. Evidently, she couldn't hear anything. "Mmmmhmmm. Mh mmmmm hmm mm mh?"

"Shut up!" Spectre spat back at her in a hushed tone. He scanned the cave openings around the room, waiting for a new threat to show itself. Nothing.

Ruby huffed to herself and resorted to licking Spectre's hand. He removed it in a disgusted fashion.

"Did you just _lick _me?"

"Yes. Oh, and Weiss is over there by the way."

Spectre spun around to where she had indicated. She was correct, Weiss had indeed emerged from one of the passages holding her head in one hand.

"Ugh… What happened?" she asked to the open air.

"Weiss, you okay?" Spectre asked as he moved towards her.

She looked up in astonishment, clearly not noticing the pair before her. "Oh, Spectre! Ruby! I didn't see you guys there." Then she flinched, "Ow…"

"You sure you're okay?" Spectre asked again.

She shrugged. "No. I have this _really _bad headache… Ow…"

"So you're not physically hurt then?"

"No."

"Good, now let's go save Christmas."

"Yay!" Ruby cheered happily as the two-some marched their way through one of the tunnels expecting Weiss to follow. Which she did – eventually.

She stood for a few seconds first, trying to process what was just said. She did not prevail. "…Wait, what? Hey, wait up! Ow…"


	3. Spectre Saves Christmas (Part 2)

Author's Note: Well, as it turned out, one person told me that they wanted part 2 :). So, Mr One-Person-You, here you go! Hope it's better than the last! And just a heads up, Part three still has a bit to go, so I'll need a few days at least to finish it up. Anywho, enjoy!

* * *

Spectre saves Christmas! (Part 2)

'_How many days of Christmas are there? 21.'_

Twas (still) the night before Christmas and the world of Remnant was filled with joy and merriness, all in anticipation for the morning to come. But as things were going, nobody would wake up to the wonderful sight of presents underneath their Christmas trees, for Santa had walked into a bad situation. Every man and woman has friends and enemies and for Santa there was no exception. A crime lord by the name of Roman Torchwick, who had received no presents from Santa, has decided to strike back against ol' Nicolas and kidnap him to prevent him from performing his annual selfless act to the good people of the world.

But there is hope yet! Three brave heroes have made swift pursuit, hot on the heels of the selfish carrot topped bastard who would dare to ruin this most merry holiday for everyone! *clears throat* Now then, back to our heroes:

* * *

The trek to escape the vast network of ice caves was not an easy one. With no sense of direction, smell or 4G, it took the ambitious threesome a good hour to emerge on the surface. As it turned out, the room that Spectre and Ruby had Void-Jumped into was right next to the exit room with the spiral slope, and that the group had been through every other passage before hand, leading them in circles. Weiss' constant moaning didn't help them out either; there was no stop to the 'what the hell is going on?' and 'where are we?' and 'ow my head hurts!' remarks. Once exposed to the open air however, there was a new complaint to be stated.

"It's f-freezing out here…"

Spectre turned to her. "Huh," he thought aloud, "You'd think the cold wouldn't bother her anyway…"

"Yeah," Ruby said in agreement, "Let it go Weiss."

"S-s-shut up R-Ruby!"

As Ruby continued to mock the ice queen, Weiss had started to send things back at her, which sparked a verbal war of endless bickering. Spectre used this and seized the opportunity to observe his surroundings. As expected, the area around them was thick with snow and pine trees had sprouted fairly evenly all the way down into the valley below. It was still dark too. A quick glance at his scroll suggested that there was little time until midnight, which meant little time to waste if they were going to save Christmas on time.

"Bickering on a hillside isn't going to help…" Spectre thought as he turned to the others. When he approached and tried to intervene however, they didn't even notice him in the slightest. It was like he wasn't even there. Eventually, he held up his gun-sword and fired a burst of dust rounds skyward, the sound of the discharge echoing throughout the valley.

The two girls squealed in surprise. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" they said as one.

"We need to get a move on if we're going to do what we came here to do," Spectre replied firmly.

"But I _didn't _c-come here to do anything!" Weiss protested, "I got s-shot at and k-k-knocked out, then woke up in a c-c-cave!"

"So you're along for the ride then? Awesome," Spectre said, answering the question for her, "Now let's go…"

"But I'll die out here…" she said sulkily.

Spectre stopped and threw his sword at her. Naturally, it bounced off of her arm and plunged into the snow. "You were supposed to catch that…"

"W-w-w-why?"

"Because I've just fired off a burst with it, so it's warm," Spectre explained as he knelt down to retrieve it. He then grabbed Weiss' arms and wedged _Doom _between them: "Keep it close to your chest, like this, and you should get a little warmer."

As he stepped away, she took a moment, not quite sure what to think. But then Ruby commented: "Couldn't you have just given her your hat, Spectre?"

He turned to her in what should have been a look of puzzlement. "What hat?"

"The one on your head."

"I have a hat on my head?"

"Yup."

"Are you sure?"

"Yup."

"Like, as sure as the fact that Renn makes _the best_ pancake mix ever?" He really wanted pancake mix for some reason…

"Uh, yup?"

Only then did he move his hand to his head and notice Yang's Santa hat upon his helm. He removed it and stared at it for a few moments. "At least she's safe…" he thought with a small smile on his face. It's not like she needed the protection anyway, but it was the thought that counted.

"Here," he said put fitting the hat somewhat reluctantly to Weiss' head.

She blushed a little. "T-thank you Spectre."

He simply nodded in response and started down the slope with the girls following closely behind him.

* * *

They were halfway down the cold and snowy valley when they spoke to each other next. It was a seemingly dull trek; there was nothing but the scenery to occupy the blooming rose, the ice queen and the void-jumper as they wandered aimlessly in an attempt to find the criminal mastermind.

"Ow…" Weiss moaned.

"Have you _still _got that headache, Weiss?" Ruby asked, a little concerned now.

"Ow… Yeah… It's still really cold t-t-too... Aren't you guys' c-cold?" Weiss asked, changing the subject quickly.

"Yup. I'm starting to freeze my butt off too… What about you Spectre?"

"Absolutely bloody freezing," Spectre cut in, focusing on the task ahead.

"You're not s-showing it…" Weiss jittered, seemingly jealous of Spectre's attitude towards the cold.

He grunted in response. "I've been through worse…"

"Oh, okay then..."

"But how?" Ruby butted in, nearly knocking Weiss to the ground, "We're in the far north of the world right? That's where Santa lives, so it make sense for Torchwick to bring him – us – here."

"So?" Weiss asked, deciding it wasn't worth having a go for pushing her.

"So, it's the coldest place possible. You can't have been colder than this, can you?"

He stopped for a few moments, sighed and turned to them, his tone becoming dark. "There is more to feeling the cold than the temperature itself. Thankfully neither of you have had to experience it yet…"

"Exp-p-perience what?" Weiss asked.

Spectre hesitated. "When I was at Grimm's respite, it was cold; more or less a blizzard… But when the Arch Grimm came and took my sister from me, it was… It was like a part of me died with her… It felt cold… as if I were in a grave…"

Without a word, Weiss trudged forward and hugged him. Spectre appreciated it, but after a while, he contemplated whether she was being sympathetic towards him, or whether she just wanted the body heat.

"You know," she started, "For someone who's freezing, you feel very warm…"

Definitely body heat.

"Uh, Weiss?"

She sighed with content, her forehead not moving from his breastplate. "Yes Spectre?"

"I'm thankful, but you can stop hugging me now."

"I don't want to… You're too warm…"

"C'mon guys!" Ruby shouted, losing her patience and flailing her arms wildly, "We need to go! There's only another half hour until midnight and Santa isn't going to save himself!"

"I agree," Spectre said logically, "Now please let me go Weiss."

"Don't worry Spectre," Weiss replied, as if in a trance, "Half an hour is more than enough time to save Christmas…"

"No it isn't."

"…we can stay here for a few more minutes…"

"No we can't."

"Can we please stay here for a little longer?" she asked, looking up at him hopefully, a tiny glint showing in her eye.

"No," Spectre replied bluntly, "Now get off me woman."

Her face dropped as if he'd just shot a puppy. "But Spectre…"

"Now."

After a moment of shocked silence, she released him and stepped back in a huff, strutting off into the night without as much as a thought for turning back.

"Weiss?" Ruby cried after her, "Where are you going?"

"H-h-home!" she shouted back without turning.

"Wait! Come back!" Despite Ruby's cries, the ice queen was still adamant about leaving the two behind her. As she started to fade into the darkness, Ruby gave Spectre a look of desperation, silently begging for help. He got the message, sighing in response before he Jumped after the girl in white.

* * *

When our hero emerged from the Void, the first thing he saw was Weiss' look of surprise as she shrieked and fell backwards into the snow.

"Ow…"

"Ah – sorry about that…" he said apologetically, as he stooped down to help her up.

Once she was back on her feet, she spat the snow from her mouth and dusted herself off. "Why are you f-following me?" she demanded with a spiteful look on her face.

Spectre shrugged. "You had my sword, and my hat."

She folded her arms. "Very funny… you're t-trying to get me to c-c-come back with you, aren't you?"

"Of course I am. I wouldn't let you wonder off on your own to the point which you wouldn't return, now would I?"

She hesitated, then sighed, suddenly changing heart. "I'm sorry Spectre. I want to help, I r-r-really do… It's just that I don't think we can d-do it…"

"And if you think like that," Spectre interrupted, "Then we don't stand a chance at all." He gripped her arm. "Weiss, I promise you that we _will_ finish what we started here, and that we _will_ return home safe and sound. But I can only do that if you're with me."

She took a few moments to take in what he said, then nodded, a small smile starting to creep across her face.

Spectre smiled beneath his helmet. "Good. Now where's my sword?"

It was only then that Weiss noticed that she had dropped _Grimm's Doom _in her earlier stumble. After looking around briefly, she noticed a metallic gleam just above the surface of the snow. "Over there!" she pointed out.

Spectre spotted it immediately, holding his palm outward, with the convergence gem in his gauntlet glowing faintly. Not a moment afterwards, _Doom _shot out of the white blanket, spraying a white powder from whence it came and stopped firmly in Spectre's hand. Without a word, he pulled back the cocking handle and readied to fire skyward.

"No, wait!" Weiss exclaimed, stepping forward to stop him.

He looked to her, cocking his head slightly. "I thought that you were still cold."

"No. Well, yes, but it's not too bad, seriously."

Weiss couldn't see it, but Spectre had narrowed his eyes, studying her for how she really felt. After a few seconds of anticipation, he lowered the gun-sword to his side. "If you're sure."

She simply smiled again before clutching her head. "Ow…"

Spectre chuckled lightly. "C'mon, the sooner we find Santa's Grotto, the sooner we'll be in the warm." He flipped his sword into an underhanded grip, making it easier to carry; the absence of its sheathe made this the better option for him. "How did you think you were going to get back to Beacon from here anyway?"

"Shut up," she spat back at him.

* * *

As they made their way back to Ruby however, familiar sounds echoed through the valley. Torchwick's cane.

"Do you hear that?" Weiss asked.

"Yeah…" Spectre replied uneasily, "I've got a bad feeling about this…"

"Me t-too. We need to g-g-get back to Ruby!"

With a quick nod, they picked up the pace and made for where they left the girl in red. But when they arrived, they saw no sign of her. After exchanging worried glances they began their search.

"Ruby! Where are you?" Weiss cried into the winter air, the wind carrying the sound back to her without avail. After several more attempts, she turned to Spectre. "Aren't you going to help?"

He ignored her, like he had been doing for what felt like half the trip; he was stood atop a snow mound, inspecting the surrounding area from a higher position. That's when he spotted something. "Weiss, come here."

She struggled up to him and followed Spectre's outstretched arm to a seemingly empty ridgeline some way away. "I don't see anything…"

"Wait for it…" Then, right on cue, the sound of the cane weapon that they dreaded so much filled their ears once more, and a series of faint red-orange flashes appeared around the edge of the high ground. Then not moments later, Santa's sleigh same soaring over the ridge, crashing into the snow and continuing on its course through the snow. The fact that the dust shots were coming from the sleigh made it obvious that Torchwich was within. "There's that slippery bastard…" Spectre muttered to himself.

"What is he doing?" Weiss asked him. He was directing his aim back up towards the mountain caves, with no signs of letting up. "Why is he doing that?"

Spectre was asking himself the same questions; nevertheless he knew that they would find out soon enough. He was right too;their questions were answered by a distant rumble that was getting ever closer by the second. Then it dawned on him. "Oh no."

"What?"

"AVALANCHE!"

Weiss span her head in a disoriented fashion and locked onto the wall of snow that was plummeting down towards them. Before she could even think about running, she felt Spectre's hand clasp around her wrist and he Void-Jumped into the higher branches of a nearby pine tree. She clambered up to a sitting position, hugging the tree trunk for added support. Feeling as safe as she could be, she looked to Spectre, who was already beginning to make his way along the treeline. "Where are you going?" Weiss shouted over the ever loudening rumble.

"To find Ruby," he replied over his shoulder, before leaping down to the ground.

"Be careful!" she shouted after him, but he couldn't hear, nor did he need to. It was a matter of seconds before the moving snow surged around the bottom of the tree, reaching up to the lower branches already. By this point she had also lost sight of Spectre as the snow refused to slow, covering ground shockingly fast.

It was then that she felt it, that cold feeling. Somehow she was certain that it was the one that Spectre had described earlier. Truly, she _had_ been lucky up until this point. She could only sit and watch as her worst fears came to light.

* * *

Once the avalanche had ceased, Weiss dropped down the now much shorter distance to the floor, and looked around desperately. "Spectre! Ruby! Where are you guys!?" she cried, hoping that there was but a glimmer of life left. Nothing. "Spectre! Ruby!" She tried again, tears forming in her eyes. After the fourth time, she broke down, her knees sinking into the cold snow. "Oh god no…"

For a moment, Weiss felt like she was the loneliest of them all. But then came a Christmas miracle: "I guess now you know how it feels then?" came a voice from above her.

When she looked up to the speaker, she found that it was none other than Spectre, hanging from a tree branch like a retarded monkey. Her first reaction was a smile and a sigh of relief, but it was quickly replaced with her usual angry face. "Spectre! You get down here right this minute!"

Spectre nearly jumped out of his skin, losing his balance briefly. "Uh… I'm glad you're alive too?"

"You scared the hell out of me! I thought you died for crying out loud!"

"Yeah… I thought I died for a moment there too…"

"And now I feel _so _cold thanks to you!"

"Well that answers my initial question…"

"Are you even listening to me?"

He blinked behind his visor. "You'd know that if _you _were listening to _me_," he pointed out.

Now she was the one to blink, processing his statement. She eventually came to the conclusion that he was right, despite how much she disliked it. She was still mad though, as she threw a snowball at Spectre's face, making him fall into the snow. That got her worried all of a sudden. "What if I've just hurt him?" she panicked mentally, "Will he get mad at me? What if he actually died this time? Who will finish off all the pancake mix and drink all the orange drinks?"

Fortunately for her, he stood up and dusted himself off. "_That_," he said as he recovered his sword, "was uncalled for." He moved to join her once he regained his dignity and studied the shocked impression that was still plastered to her face. "You okay Weiss?" he asked with concern.

She started to shake violently, making odd snickering noises. Then, the cork popped and she burst out with laughter, almost scaring Spectre off of his feet. "By the gods…" he breathed, "Weiss can… laugh? It's the end times!"

"IT'S A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE!"

Spectre spun around to the voice that he recognised, hoping for it to be who he thought it was. Thankfully, his hopes bore fruit. "Ruby! There you are."

"Yep! All safe and sound!"

"Speaking of which," Spectre questioned, leaving Weiss to calm herself down "how did you avoid the avalanche?"

"OH! So _that's _what that noise was…" she said as if suddenly enlightened, "I figured that since you guys were taking so long, I'd go for a little walk. Then I found this trap door with a Santa hat symbol on it, so I went down it. Then I heard this weird rumbling noise, so I came up to find out what was going on and I found you guys." She finished with a grin, trying to show that she wasn't lying. Spectre believed her anyway.

"So where is this little hidey-hole of yours then?" he asked casually.

She pointed behind her and to the right. "It's just behind that tree over there. Why don't you check it out, and I'll deal with giggly guts over there?"

Spectre glanced uneasily at Weiss who hadn't shown any sign of stopping. "Done deal," he said quickly before moving off to the specified area. Upon inspecting the trap door, Spectre found that Ruby's vague description of it was correct; it was wooden, with a fresh looking metal handle and hinges. The seal in the centre that she described was also there and made of the same metal. Preferring to leave the frightening sight of Weiss' laughter behind him, he dropped down into the darkness within, not knowing what was in store for him next.


End file.
